


A Lonesome Time

by AdrianaLoud1996



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13616040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrianaLoud1996/pseuds/AdrianaLoud1996





	1. Lucy Misses Rocky

One Sunday afternoon, a dark green pick-up truck pulled up in front of the Loud house. The truck belonged to none other than the Spokes family. They were stopping by so that Rocky can talk to Lucy before they head out on their important trip.

Speaking of Rocky, he exited the truck and closed the door behind him. His father rolled down the window and called out to him.

“Try and hurry, ok? We don’t want to miss our flight,” Rocky’s father instructed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right out,” Rocky reassures him.

Rocky slowly walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Within seconds, Lincoln answers the door. When he sees that it’s Rocky, a smile appears on his face.

“Hi Rocky, how are you?” Lincoln greeted.

“I’m doing fine. Hey, is Lucy here? I have to talk to her really quick,” Rocky asks politely.

“Yeah, she’s upstairs in her room,” Lincoln pointed upstairs.

As Rocky made his way upstairs, he started nervously biting his bottom lip and looking downwards. He had to tell her something important and he was afraid of how she’s going to react.

When he approached her bedroom door, he wanted to be polite, so he lightly knocked on it. When Lucy answered, she smiled at him.

“Hi Rocky,” Lucy greeted.

“Hey Lucy. May I come in?” Rocky asked.

“Of course, by all means,” Lucy stepped aside and allowed Rocky to enter her bedroom.

After Rocky enters the room and shuts the door behind him, Lucy appears in front of him.

“So, what brings you here?” Lucy asks, while retaining her smile.

Her smile wasn’t making it any easier for Rocky to tell her what he needed to tell her, especially since it will most likely erase that smile. To show her that things were serious, he looked at her solemnly.

“Lucy, dear, there’s something I have to tell you,” Rocky mutters.

Given Rocky’s serious demeanor, Lucy’s smile instantly fades and she listened intently to what he had to tell her.

“I...I have to leave town for two weeks,” Rocky hesitantly confesses.

Lucy’s eyes widen under her bangs, “Two weeks? But...why?” Lucy icily whispers.

To keep his girl at ease, Rocky placed his hand on Lucy’s shoulder, “My grandmother is dying Lucy. She has very little time left, and she lives in Florida, so we’re all going there,” Rocky explains.

Even though it pains her to ask this, she was genuinely curious, “I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but why two weeks?” Lucy wonders.

“It’s Ok,” Rocky says, “The reason we’re going for two weeks is because we have a lot of stuff to do. First, the grown-ups have to meet with a lawyer to go over her will. Then we have to help clean out my grandma’s house so it can be sold. Of course there’s also the funeral. I want to go help out.”

While she listens to Rocky’s explanation, Lucy understood perfectly. “Yes, I understand. That kind of stuff really does come with the territory,” Lucy replies.

“Oh I’m so glad you understand,” Rocky sighed in relief.

After realizing that Rocky will not only be gone for two weeks, but he will also be several states away, Lucy started to realize that she will miss him.

“I’m going to miss you,” Lucy mutters.

Rocky gives an understanding smile and opens his arms, “Aww, give me a hug,” Rocky says.

Lucy does what she’s told and hugs him. While hugging him, she suddenly doesn’t want him to go, especially since he’ll be gone for a long time. Of course, she doesn’t say it out loud, so instead she relies on her inner thoughts. She whispers in her mind, “Don’t go.”

“Lucy, I have to go,” Rocky says while tightly hugging her.

It was incredibly odd to have Rocky reply to something that Lucy thought in her mind. Could he read minds?

Ignoring that, while she still held Rocky in her arms, Lucy whispers in his ear, “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Rocky whispers back.

Rocky releases Lucy from his grasp, “I should really get going. We’re going to miss our flight,” Rocky explains.

He’s about to exit the room when Lucy grabs his hand to stop him, “Rocky wait,” She says.

Before he could protest, Lucy brought Rocky’s hand to her lips and kissed his hand. Then she walks up to him and kisses his cheek.

Rocky, grateful for his girlfriend’s sweet gesture, blushes and smiles at her. He then opens the door so he can leave. Before he closes the door, he winks at her and blows an air kiss at her. It was then he finally left.

Lucy goes to sit cross-legged on her bed. Just a few seconds later, Lincoln comes into Lucy’s room.

“Rocky was here for a pretty short time. Usually he’s here longer,” Lincoln observes.

Lincoln takes a closer look at his sister and notices that her demeanor is much gloomier than usual.

“You ok?” Lincoln asks.

“Rocky left me,” Lucy softly whispers.

As soon as Lincoln heard the words “left me”, he completely misinterprets what Lucy means. In response to this, his eyes and mouth widen.

“He broke up with you?!” Lincoln gasped.

Lucy immediately corrects her brother, “No Lincoln, he did not break up with me,” Lucy clarifies.

Lincoln put his hand on his chest, “Don’t scare me like that,” He sighed in relief.

“He’s going to Florida for two weeks so he can visit his dying grandmother. The reason he’s going to be gone for so long is because there’s a lot of stuff he has to do,” Lucy explains.

She pauses for a minute before continuing, “This will be the first time we’ll be apart for a long period of time. I’m really gonna miss him Lincoln,” Lucy sighs.

Lincoln’s face immediately softens and he places his arm around Lucy’s shoulder, “You’re right, this will be the first time you’ll be apart,” Lincoln says, “But you gotta remember that he’ll be back.”

The two siblings’ tender moment was interrupted by their mother’s bellowing voice calling out to them, “Kids, come help your father bring the groceries in!” Rita yelled.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Several hours later, the Louds are having dinner, which is pot roast, mashed potatoes, and corn. Dinner time is usually just a typical routine where nothing unusual happens. However, today the Louds notice that Lucy wasn’t her usual self.

Now while Lucy obviously isn’t a ray of sunshine, she’s at least a little bit sociable. She’ll talk about her day, she’ll laugh at her dad’s and Luan’s jokes and so forth. However, tonight, she was much more subdued.

After she fixed her plate and settled into her usual spot in between Lana and Luna, Lucy didn’t do much except sit there in complete silence, only occasionally fiddling around with her food. She began using her fork to draw a small portrait of Rocky in her mashed potatoes, or at least as close as she could get to replicating her beloved.

Rita was the first to notice Lucy’s unusual behavior, so she looked over at her goth daughter, “You ok, honey?” Rita asks.

Lucy briefly looks up at her mother and just shrugs indifferently. She starts poking small dots on her little Rocky portrait to represent his freckles.

Luna glanced at Lucy’s Rocky portrait and then looked at everyone else. “What’s up with Lucy?” Luna wonders.

“I know what it is,” Lincoln announces. Everybody turns their attention to him as he goes on to explain.

“She’s upset because Rocky is going to Florida for two weeks so he can visit his dying grandmother,” Lincoln repeats what Lucy told him earlier.

“Hmm, two weeks huh,” Lynn Sr. mumbles as he places his index finger on his chin.

“I guess she misses him huh?” Leni comments as she glances at Lucy.

“This reminds me of when Bobby left to be with his family,” Lori comments, “But the only difference is that unlike Bobby, Rocky will be back.”

“That’s what I told her,” Lincoln says.

Lynn remembers how Lori moped when Bobby left and starts to wonder if Lucy will act the same way over the course of the two weeks. It certainly seemed that way.

“Hmm, I never thought Lucy would act like this,” Lynn thought to herself.

While she was listening to her siblings talk, Lucy suddenly lost her appetite. She looked up from her plate and finally spoke, “I’m not hungry,” Lucy mumbles.

Rita looked at Lucy’s full plate and refused to let her leave the table without eating more of her food, “Sorry dear, but you have to eat.You don’t even have to finish the whole thing. Just a couple more bites, ok?” Rita gently suggests.

Lucy decides to do so, but only slightly under protest. While she ate, she remained silent and tried to do the best she can to erase Rocky from her mind.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Several hours later, at 8:30 pm, Lucy went up to her room so that she could be alone. Luckily Lynn doesn’t come to bed until about 10 or so, therefore Lucy can be in her room all by herself.

Once she put on her pajamas and settled into her sheets and blanket, her cell phone rings. When she looks at who’s calling her, she’s ecstatic (or, at least, as ecstatic as she could be) to find out that it’s Rocky. She immediately answers it.

“Hello?” Lucy answers.

“Well hello to you too,” Rocky greets happily.

“I’m so glad you called,” Lucy says, a smile appearing on her face.

“I’m sorry for calling you so late,” Rocky apologizes in a guilty tone.

“Oh, it’s not that late,” Lucy says, “What time is it over there? Not too late I hope.”

“Actually Lucy, we’re in the same time zone,” Rocky explains, “I would have called you earlier but I was far too busy. Once our plane landed, we had to rent an Uber to take us to our hotel, which is several miles from the airport. After we arrived at our hotel, we unpacked and settled in.”

“Sounds like you had quite a day,” Lucy comments.

“I did, and it seems like it’ll only get busier as the two weeks go on,” Rocky says.

“Sigh, thank you for calling me,” Lucy sighed as she placed a hand on her heart.

“Of course. I had to let you know that I made it here safely,” Rocky replies.

“I’ll think I’ll try and call you as much as I can over this two weeks,” Rocky suggests, “But it might be late at night since this will probably be the only free time I have.”

“Even if it’s late at night, it’ll be good to hear your voice,” Lucy sighed.

“Thanks, love,” Rocky replies, “Well we should go to bed since it’s a school day tomorrow.”

“You’re right, goodnight Rocky,” Lucy bids goodnight.

“Goodnight Lucy,” Rocky also bids goodnight.

After they hang up, Lucy places her cell phone on her nightstand, right in front of the framed picture of her and Rocky from their first dance. Speaking of the picture, Lucy blows a kiss at it and finally goes to sleep.


	2. A Sibling Meeting

Even though Lucy slept well that night, the following day at school it finally dawns on her that Rocky is really gone. She had to admit that it felt pretty jarring to see Lincoln hanging out with his friends without Rusty around. School felt pretty empty without both Spokes brothers around, yes even Rusty. She starts to feel sad again to the point where her change in behavior was more noticeable.

That Wednesday afternoon, while Lucy was sitting on the couch somberly watching her favorite show “Vampires of Melancholia”, the rest of her siblings were in Lori and Leni’s room holding a sibling meeting. They were discussing Lucy’s behavior.

“We all know why we’re here,” Lori began, “It’s only been 3 days since Rocky left, which was Sunday, and Lucy has been very gloomy.”

“She doesn’t really do anything in school,” Lana comments.

“Yeah, she’s very quiet and most of the time such as lunch and recess she just kind of sits there and stares into space,” Lola explains.

“I concur,” Lisa reported, “Not only has she been incredibly distant outside of class, but I happened to eavesdrop on a teacher’s meeting. Lucy’s teacher talked about how she does very little class participation. Luckily this won’t affect her grade.”

“Can I add something?” Lincoln requests, “Earlier today Haiku came up to me and wanted to know what was wrong with Lucy. She says that Lucy doesn’t even talk to her or Silas, much less hang out with them.”

“She’s not much better here at home either,” Lori laments.

“Yeah. I tried telling her the spookiest jokes I could think of, but no laughs. Not even a smirk,” Luan says.

“Like what?” Luna asks.

“Things like: What do spooks with poor eyesight wear? Spook-tacles! And, how did the vampire race finish? Neck and neck! And what is a skeleton’s favorite instrument? A trombone! And what type of coffee does a vampire drink? De-coffin-ated!” Luan listed the jokes she told Lucy.

Lynn raised an eyebrow indifferently, “No wonder she didn’t laugh. Those jokes were pretty lame.”

“Eh, I don’t know dude. That ‘de-coffin-ated’ one was good,” Luna says.

“Thank you,” Luan groans.

“Guys, can we just stay focused?” Lori commands.

“Right. My point is that I’ve told Lucy a bunch of spooky jokes but she didn’t even crack a smile,” Luan explains.

Leni jumps in, “I also noticed that she barely answers me when I try and talk to her. Like I’ll say hi, ask her about her day, ask if I can get her a snack. But she just looks at me and sometimes just says ‘hmm’ and ‘meh’,” Leni explains.

“She also has been eating dinner in her room instead of at the table,” Lincoln points out.

“Wait,” Lola interrupts, “I thought we weren’t allowed to eat in our rooms?”

“We’re not. She somehow manages to sneak away and take her food up to her room,” Lincoln explains.

“She doesn’t even do anything with us anymore. No game nights, no trips to the store, no going out for ice cream,” Lana laments.

“I forgot to mention that she constantly holds and stares at her picture of her and Rocky. Sometimes she even hugs and kisses it,” Lynn comments. “I never thought Lucy would be so torn up over a boy, especially so young.”

“Hey you guys, Rocky is Lucy’s first love. It’s normal to act like this when you’re away from your first love,” Lori argued.

“I thought Edwin was her first love?” Leni says.

“Edwin doesn’t count because he’s not real. Rocky is Lucy’s literal first love,” Lori explains.

“It’s not like her to be so anti social. We have to do something,” Lincoln sighs.

“There’s no point. We’ve tried everything,” Lynn groaned.

Lola gets an idea, “Doesn’t she like Silas? Maybe she can hang out with him.”

“Silas and Lucy are just friends who are keeping it casual. Besides Haiku says that she’s completely isolated herself from both of them,” Lincoln explains.

“I have an idea,” Leni jumps in. Everybody turns their attention towards her.

“How about Lucy hang out with Clyde,” Leni suggested.

Everybody’s eyes widen and a few of them raise an eyebrow. Leni is confused by her siblings’ bemused reactions.

“What’s the problem?” Leni asks while shrugging.

“Lucy can’t hang out with Clyde. They don’t have anything in common, so what are they supposed to do?” Lori protested.

“But Lucy and Rocky didn’t have anything in common either,” Lola says.

“Uh, yes they did dude. They both liked making fake blood, Rock liked Luce’s poems, they both watched Lucy’s vampire show together, and they really liked being together,” Luna argued.

“But I do agree with Lori that there’s no much she and Clyde could do together,” Luna added.

Before they knew it, all the sisters (except Lily) started arguing about whether or not this was a good idea. Some say that it’s pointless, while others say that this is their last option. While his sisters bickered, Lincoln took a minute to think about this suggestion.

Once he finally has the answer, Lincoln tries to quiet down his sisters. “Guys! Stop!” Lincoln shouts.

The commotion immediately dies and everyone turns their attention to their only brother.

“Maybe I should just ask Clyde about this and see what he thinks,” Lincoln says simply.

The sisters start to nod in agreement. Meanwhile, Lori was a touch skeptical about this.

“What do we do if he says no? Just the worst case scenario,” Lori wonders.

“I’m sure he’ll understand if I just explain it to him,” Lincoln explains, “I think he’d do the same for me, so he might help Lucy too.”

“I’ll ask him first thing tomorrow afternoon,” Lincoln declares.

“Good luck,” All his sisters say.


	3. Clyde Takes Lucy to the Mall

The following day, which was Thursday, Lincoln sat on the couch waiting patiently for Clyde to come over. Just a few hours prior, while they were still in school, Lincoln had asked Clyde to come over to his house after school. Of course, Clyde had to let his dads know that he would be going to Lincoln’s, which is what he was doing now.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rings. When Lincoln answers the door, it turns out to be Clyde.

“Hey Lincoln, what’s up,” Clyde greeted.

“Come inside,” Lincoln instructed.

Clyde did what he was told and stepped inside the house. After he closed the front door, Lincoln lead Clyde to the couch.

“Can you do me a favor?” Lincoln wonders as the two of them sit down.

“Sure. What do you need?” Clyde says.

“Ok, you know how Rusty and Rocky are in Florida right?” Lincoln asks.

“Yeah, to visit their grandmother,” Clyde answers.

Oh boy, how to I put this? “See, ever since they left, Lucy’s been depressed because Rocky is gone. She misses him. So...um...can you ‘bond’ with her?” Lincoln says.

Clyde raises an eyebrow and scratches his head, “You want me to bond with her? But, why? I mean, why me specifically?” He wonders.

“It was actually Leni of all people who suggested it,” Lincoln explains, “The more I thought about it, the more I realize that this actually isn’t a bad idea. Family time isn’t working and she doesn’t socialize with her own friends, so I think that you’re the next best thing.”

Lincoln places a hand on Clyde’s shoulder and makes pleading eyes, “We really want her to get back on her feet again. Please Clyde, she’s lonely and she needs a friend right now,” Lincoln begs.

At first, Clyde was a little uncertain about the idea of spending time with Lucy. However, once Lincoln thoroughly explained the situation, he just couldn’t say no.

Clyde looked over at Lincoln and smiled, “You know what? I’ll do it,” Clyde says triumphantly.

“Oh thank you Clyde. This really means a lot,” Lincoln sighed.

Clyde pauses for a moment, “So...what do you suggest we do?” He wonders.

“How about you take her to the mall?” Lincoln suggests.

“Hmm, that’s a good idea,” Clyde comments.

Lincoln turns his head towards the stairs, “Lucy? Can you come down here for a minute?” Lincoln calls out.

There’s silence for a few seconds until there’s a soft pitter patter of small feet coming down the stairs. They belong to Lucy, who’s almost all the way down the stairs. They belong to Lucy, who’s almost all the way down the stairs. The two boys get up from the couch and eagerly await the young goth to enter the living room.

Once she enters the living room, she looks over at Lincoln, “You called?” Lucy mumbled.

“Hi Lucy,” Clyde greeted.

Lucy looked at Clyde but didn’t answer him. She simply just gives a nonchalant wave.

“Listen, sis, I think I know a way for you to get your mind off of Rocky,” Lincoln says. Lucy is still silent.

“How about going to the mall with me?” Clyde wonders, “It might be fun to hang out with you.”

While Lincoln and Clyde eagerly smiled at Lucy, she quietly pondered why on earth Clyde would want to hang out with her.

“I think you’re wasting your time,” Lucy whispers, “Not to be rude, but if I didn’t want to go to the mall with you guys, what makes you think I’ll go with Clyde?”

That certainly wasn’t the reaction that they were expecting, so they briefly glanced at each other. Clyde steps forward to explain things.

“Lincoln told me about your little situation,” Clyde explains, “He says that your depression is worrisome and that you could really use a friend right now. I’ll be your friend Lucy, if you’ll let me.”

After listening to Clyde’s explanation, she was touched by Lincoln’s concern for her well being. Not only that, but Clyde also has pretty good intentions. Maybe hanging out with him won’t be so bad.

“Fine,” Lucy mutters.

“Oh that’s great Lucy,” Clyde says ecstatically. He opens the front door, “My dads will drive us. Come on.”

Lucy walked out the door and Clyde immediately follows. After they leave, Lincoln stands in the doorway.

“Bye guys, and good luck,” Lincoln bids farewell.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Once the McBride SUV pulled up in front of the main entrance to the mall, Lucy got out of the car. Meanwhile, Clyde was talking to his dads.

“Yes I took all my medicine, yes the volume on my cell phone is turned up all the way, yes I have an appropriate amount of money, not too much but not too little, and no I will not give money to strangers,” Clyde told his dads, with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

There’s a brief pause, “Yes, I triple quadruple promise to answer my phone when you call.”

After hugging and kissing his dads goodbye, Clyde finally exits the SUV. After it finally drives off, he turns towards Lucy.

“Let’s go in,” Clyde says as the two of them go inside.

While the two of them walk around the mall, Clyde attempts to make small talk, “Is there anywhere specific you want to go?” He asks him. Lucy simply shrugs.

“Last time I was here, I saw a store that I believe is called...Hot Topic? That looks like a store you might like. Maybe we’ll stop in there,” Clyde says while absentmindedly walking.

As they walk, they happen to pass the arcade. Lucy stops walking and looks inside the arcade’s windows. Unable to resist, she decides to go inside since that’s where one of Rocky’s favorite video games is located.

Meanwhile, Clyde doesn’t notice that Lucy left and keeps talking, “You know something, I’m getting hungry. How about you? Want something to eat?” Clyde turns and notices that Lucy isn’t next to him.

“Huh? Lucy, where’d you go?” He wonders.

He decides to retrace his steps, all the while calling out to Lucy, “Lucy? Where are you?”

While passing the arcade, Clyde briefly glances inside and notices that Lucy is wandering around in there. Uncertain of what she could be doing in there, Clyde follows her inside.

Clyde continued to search for Lucy inside the arcade. When he finally found her, she stood in front of a video game called “Space Blaster II” and placed her right hand next to the control stick.

“Sigh, this was one of Rocky’s favorite video games,” Lucy sighed as she began fiddling with the control stick.

Because she didn’t insert any money and press the start button, the game just showed the menu screen. However, Lucy continued to imitate Rocky’s hand movements whenever he played the game.

“Uh, Lucy…” Clyde said.

Lucy could no longer resist. She removed her hand from the control stick and wrapped her arms around the machine, hugging it tightly.

Clyde was rather surprised that Lucy was literally hugging a video game, especially for a good few seconds. Even though the arcade wasn’t packed with people, there were still a few in there. When they walked by, Clyde noticed that a few of them were staring at Lucy and giving her strange looks.

Fearing that she will be embarrassed, Clyde taps Lucy on the shoulder, “Come on Lucy, we should go,” Clyde suggested.

Lucy doesn’t talk or move, instead she continues to cling onto the machine. As much as Clyde really hated to do this, he actually tried to pry Lucy off the machine. First, he grabbed her right arm and tried to pull it off, but she won’t budge.

“Come on Lucy,” Clyde continued to pry, while trying to be as patient as possible.

Since he was unable to pry the young goth off the video game, Clyde steps away and just looks at her.

This time Lucy rubbed her cheek against the machine, which made Clyde realize just how serious this whole situation is.

“Oh boy, I sure wish Dr. Lopez was here right now,” Clyde thought to himself, “Wait, Dr. Lopez! That’s it!”

Clyde started to remember a piece of advice that Dr. Lopez gave him: More often than not, talking to somebody can really help with any problems you have. It doesn’t even have to be a professional therapist. It can be your parents, a teacher, a sibling, or a friend; as long as it’s someone you trust. Talking and opening up to someone is much healthier than bottling things up.

Clyde also remembered back at the house he said that if she lets him, he could be her friend. God knows she could use someone she trusts to talk to, just like Dr. Lopez said. Surely Lucy trusted him, right? Even not, then maybe she can learn to trust him.

Clyde gets the idea to get him and Lucy some frozen yogurt and talk for a while, to hopefully make her feel better about Rocky’s absence.

Giving an understanding smile, Clyde walks over to Lucy and taps her shoulder, “Hey, do you like fro-yo?” Clyde asks patiently.

With her arms still wrapped around the machine, Lucy briefly glances at Clyde, “Yes,” She answers.

“How about we go get some fro-yo and talk for a little while. Would you like that?” Clyde suggested in a soft gentle tone.

Lucy noticed Clyde’s understanding smile and starts to feel more comfortable being here with him, so she takes him up on his offer.

“Yes, I would like that,” Lucy says as she finally lets go of the arcade machine.


	4. Talking Over Frozen Yogurt

A little while later, the two of them make it to the food court.  
“Is there anything special you want?” Clyde asks.  
“Um...probably just a vanilla fro-yo,” Lucy whispers.  
“Any toppings?” Clyde wonders.  
“Just chocolate sauce,” Lucy replies.  
“Ok then. I’ll get us some and you find a table,” Clyde instructed.  
“Alright,” Lucy answers.  
While Clyde heads to the fro-yo place, Lucy walks around the food court and looks around for a table they could sit at. She wanted to find a place that didn’t have a ton of people surrounding it. When she finally finds a table she thinks will suit them, she sits down. Luckily, it was just a few feet away from the fro-yo place.  
A few minutes later, Clyde has gotten a vanilla fro-yo with chocolate sauce for Lucy and a vanilla fro-yo with strawberry and caramel sauce for himself. After exiting the fro-yo place with his and Lucy’s desserts in each hand, Clyde was able to spot Lucy right away and approaches her.  
“Here you go,” Clyde says as he slid Lucy’s fro-yo towards her.  
“Thank you,” Lucy thanks him.  
Once Clyde sat down with his own fro-yo in front of him, his phone rings and vibrates for the second time, with the first time occuring while in the store.  
“Hold on,” He tells Lucy.  
Clyde removes his phone from his pocket, “Hello?” He answers.  
“Hi dads. Sorry I didn’t answer, I was getting me and Lucy some fro-yo. Frozen yogurt. Don’t worry, I will not get a brain freeze. Yes, I know that if I do, I should not hit my forehead…”  
While Clyde still had his phone next to his ear, he looked at Lucy and pointed to his phone while making the crazy gesture. Lucy gave a tiny grin as a result.  
“It only cost $8.50. Because I got Lucy one too. Ok, I promise I’ll answer next time you call. I love you too. Bye,” Clyde finally hangs up.  
He turns to Lucy, “Sorry about that,” Clyde apologizes.  
“It’s fine,” Lucy answers.  
“Ok, so I wanted to tell you that I’ve been thinking about something that Dr. Lopez taught me. She says that talking to someone about any problems you have can really help,” Clyde began.  
“With that said, why don’t you talk to me about Rocky. It’ll help you not to miss him so much. Trust me, Dr. Lopez knows what she’s talking about,” Clyde suggested as he started eating some of his fro-yo.  
“What specifically do you want to know?” Lucy wonders.  
“I dunno. Your backstory? How he makes you feel? That kind of stuff,” Clyde shrugs.  
“Let’s see,” Lucy began, “For starters, when I first laid eyes on him, I was blown away by how cute he was. I tried to socialize with him, namely showing him my fake blood, but unfortunately that didn’t go so well.”  
Lucy paused for a moment to take a couple bites of her fro-yo. After a few seconds of indulging in her frozen treat, she decides to continue.  
“Lincoln told me that Rocky’s regular and normal. I took that to mean that I had to change my appearance and behavior in order for him to like me, which my sisters were all too eager to do. Lori decided to take the two of us on a double date with her and Bobby. Things didn’t go well on the date, so I came to the conclusion that Rocky didn’t like me period,” Lucy continued.  
Once again she stopped to eat some more fro-yo. “Then what happened?” Clyde wondered.  
Lucy proceeded to continue her and Rocky’s backstory, “The next day, Rocky and I had a better conversation. I told him that I’m going to be myself, and he was actually happy about that. He said that he actually does like me but he was too nervous to talk to me at first because he thought I was too cool for him.”  
“I bet that made you feel better about yourself,” Clyde assumes.  
“Yes it did,” Lucy answers, “Two weeks after that, we went to our first dance with Lincoln and Ronnie Anne…”  
“Sorry to interrupt, but was it the Spring is in the Air dance?” Clyde interrupted.  
“Yes,” Lucy proceeded, “Anyway, he looked so handsome in his green shirt, green tie, and black suit…”  
Lucy could feel her cheeks growing red and hot, “Sorry about that,” She whispers.  
“Not at all,” Clyde says.  
“At the dance I had a, for lack of a better word, magical night with him. We danced together, we took a photo together, which I still have, and we even stared at the moon together. Sigh, then came one of the best moments of my life: we kissed,” Lucy sighed in a lovestruck tone.  
“So, you kissed him, eh?” Clyde replies in a somewhat teasing tone.  
“Sigh, yes. It was such a wonderful feeling, especially since it was both our first kiss,” Lucy sighed.  
“Whenever you’re around him, how does he make you feel?” Clyde questioned.  
“He makes me feel a lot of things,” Lucy explains, “He makes me feel happy and beautiful, which might be how Lori feels when she’s around Bobby. But I think it goes beyond that. He makes me feel...important. That I matter as a human being.”  
“Oh? Tell me more,” Clyde begs.  
“He’s so accepting of everything I do, even if it comes across as weird to everyone else. When he said that he likes me for me, my self-esteem suddenly increased and I had this feeling that I’m respected by someone. What’s more is that he’s romantically interested in me. These feelings might still be there if he was just a friend, but the fact that he’s my boyfriend, meaning a boy that’s romantically inclined towards me just makes these feelings all the stronger,” Lucy says.  
After that very long explanation about how much Rocky means to her, she went back to eating her fro-yo in silence.  
“Wow, I had no idea he was so special to you,” Clyde comments.  
Lucy does not answer him. Instead she keeps eating her fro-yo. She’s starting to miss Rocky again.  
Clyde takes notice of this and starts to ask, “Do you truly miss him? How much?”  
Lucy looks up at Clyde, “I do miss him, a lot actually. The funny thing is that I probably wouldn’t miss him so much if he wasn’t gone for so long. He’s only been gone for four days and I still have ten more to go,” She mumbled.  
“After hearing your story, I can understand perfectly why you would feel lonely. I remember that Lincoln also felt pretty lonely when Ronnie Anne and Bobby left,” Clyde acknowledged.  
“That’s what Lori said,” Lucy replied.  
“At least Rocky will be back. It could be worse, he could be gone forever,” Clyde points out.  
Lucy immediately takes her eyes off of Clyde and eats some of her fro-yo and eats some more of her fro-yo, which is almost gone at this point. As she watches her eat while staring down, Clyde wonders if he was being insensitive with what he said. Fearing that he was, he ate his own fro-yo.  
While the two kids silently ate their frozen treats, Lucy processed what Clyde said about how she should be grateful that Rocky won’t be gone forever. Even though it wasn’t something she entirely wanted to hear, she did realize that her beloved definitely will come back and she can see him again. She can’t wait for that day.  
A few minutes later, the two of them looked each other in the eyes again.  
“You know, you’re right. Even though it’ll be a while before he comes home, he will be back and we can be together,” Lucy says in relief.  
She reaches across the table and grabs Clyde’s hand, briefly catching him off guard.  
“Thank you for doing this Clyde. My siblings just tried to cheer me up but didn’t really take the time to talk to me and listen to me. This was actually a lot more helpful than I give it credit for,” Lucy says gratefully.  
Clyde smiles at her, “Of course Lucy. And like I said, this was mostly Dr. Lopez’s doing, so we really have her to thank,” He says.  
Lucy gives a nervous little frown, “If this isn’t too much to ask, do you think we can hang out like this again? This actually might help me get through the two weeks,” She wonders.  
Clyde was a little surprised by her request. Then again, she did say that this time with him helped a lot. Not just that, he quite enjoyed this time, even more than he thought he would. So he decides to oblige.  
“Of course Lucy. If this will really help you, then I’d be more than willing to continue doing this,” Clyde replied with a smile.


	5. Lucy's Progress

The following Monday afternoon, the Loud siblings (except for Lucy) have another sibling meeting. Unlike their last sibling meeting, which had a certain negative aura, this one had a much more positive and upbeat vibe to it. Today, they were discussing how much Lucy’s demeanor has significantly improved.  
“Lucy’s definitely been doing a lot better,” Lincoln reported, “She talks more, she smiles more, and I think I’ve heard her laughing quite a bit too. At school, she also socializes with Haiku and Silas.”  
“Mind if I jump in?” Lisa requests.  
Both Lincoln and Lori give her the green light to say what she wanted to say. Lisa steps forward and pulls down a chart. There is a red line on the chart that is pointed downwards, and a green line on the chart that points upwards.  
“What you see before you is a chart that shows Lucy’s behavior from the time Rocky has left Royal Woods to now,” Lisa explains. She uses a pointer to point to the chart.  
“The red line shows her distant and asocial behavior from Sunday to Thursday of last week. Notice how before Rocky left, she was in a fairly normal state. But once he was no longer here, she has dropped significantly.”  
Lisa now points to the green line, “This green line shows her progress from last Thursday to now. After she has spent time with Clyde, her emotional state has gotten much better. Notice how it is now rising.”  
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this alive since she and Rocky first got together,” Lynn comments.  
“Wait, I thought Lucy’s always been alive?” Leni says.  
“No Leni. When we say ‘alive’ we mean ‘alive with energy’,” Lincoln explains.  
“I don’t get it,” Lori remarks, “What exactly is Clyde doing that’s making Lucy not be so sorrowful?”  
“That’s what I’ve been wondering too,” Lincoln says, “I’ve asked both Clyde and Lucy and they said that talking to each other is helping a lot. Because he really listens to her, it’s making quite a difference.”  
“Huh. I never thought that talking and listening could matter so much to a person,” Lori realizes.  
Downstairs, the doorbell rang, “That’s probably Clyde. I heard Lucy say that she invited him over today,” Lincoln comments.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Meanwhile, Lucy was watching the end credits to Vampires of Melancholia when she heard the doorbell ring. Hoping that it’s Clyde, Lucy gets up from the couch and answers the door. When she opens the door, it does turn out to be Clyde, who waves at her.  
“Hi Lucy. What’re we doing today?” Clyde wonders.  
“Well…” Lucy was interrupted when her cell phone, that was on the coffee table, rang and vibrated.  
She goes to answer her phone and it turns out to be Rocky, much to her delight.  
“Rocky’s calling,” Lucy says happily with a smile on her face.  
Clyde nods in understanding as he leans against the doorway of the dining room.  
Lucy sits on the couch and answers her phone, “Hello Rocky,” Lucy greets sweetly.  
“Hi Lucy. I’m sorry I haven’t called you all weekend,” Rocky greets back.  
“That’s alright. I’m just glad to hear your voice again,” Lucy sighs.  
“Oh boy was my weekend busy,” Rocky explains, “First of all, we had to clean out my grandma’s house, which meant we had to put her clothes and dishes in boxes and move the furniture out on the curb.”  
“That sounds like hard work,” Lucy replies.  
“Yes it was,” Rocky continues, “Good thing we had a lot of help. After that, we had to move hotels because the hotel we were staying at had a stupid gas leak.”  
“A gas leak?!” Lucy gasped, “Are you alright, love?”  
“Yes Lucy, I’m Ok,” Rocky reassures her, “Don’t worry, we got out as soon as we heard. The good news is that our new hotel is only about 15 minutes or so from the hospital my grandma’s staying at.”  
“Oh thank goodness you’re safe and sound,” Lucy sighs in relief.  
“You know, I’m starting to miss you Lucy,” Rocky confesses in a soft tone.  
Touched by her beloved saying that he misses her, Lucy places a hand on her heart. “Oh Rocky, that’s so sweet. I miss you too,” Lucy swoons.  
On Rocky’s end, there’s some loud talking in the distance, which is his family warning him that they have to leave soon, meaning he’ll have to cut his conversation with Lucy short.  
“Lucy, I have to go,” Rocky says, “I have to visit my grandma at the hospital today.”  
“Is that so?” Lucy remarks.  
“Yeah, but I’m not looking forward to it,” Rocky confessed softly, “I’ve been told that her health is truly deteriorating, even while she’s in the hospital. So…(sigh) this might be the last time I’ll get to talk to her.”  
Lucy starts to feel slightly saddened by Rocky’s explanation that his grandmother might leave Earth soon.  
“Whatever happens...I hope things will turn out Ok,” Lucy mumbles, “If you need to, you can call me later. Good luck.”  
“Thanks. Goodbye Lucy,” Rocky bids farewell.  
“Goodbye Rocky,” Lucy also bids farewell. Just before hanging up, Lucy kisses her phone. Once they are both off the line, Lucy places her phone in her pocket.  
“What’d he say?” Clyde asks, genuinely curious.  
Lucy proceeds to paraphrase her phone conversation, “He just told me that he was too busy to call me because he was cleaning his grandma’s house. Then he said he had to move hotels because the one he was first staying at had a gas leak.”  
Lucy pauses for a brief moment, “Then he said that he’s going to visit his grandmother in the hospital. He thinks that because her health is really deteriorating, this might be the last time he sees her. Sigh, my poor dear.”  
Clyde briefly looks at her with sympathy, “If that’s true, then I truly do feel sorry for them. I actually remember that Rusty has talked about his grandmother several times before. It must be hard for them to lose someone dear to them,” Clyde says softly.  
“Sigh, I too feel sorry for them,” Lucy says, “But at the same time, I do understand that death is a part of life and everyone dies at some point.”  
Lucy turns to Clyde, “Hey speaking of death, do you want to come to the cemetery with me, Haiku, and Silas to help bury a dead bird?” She asks.  
At first, Clyde was a little surprised that Lucy wanted him to accompany her to bury a dead bird. He was also a little hesitant to go through with it since it was a morbid activity that he wasn’t used to participating in. Then again, after the progress she has made and especially after the phone conversation Lucy just had with Rocky, there was no way Clyde would give up on her now.  
Despite his better judgement, he agrees, “Sure,” He says.  
“Good. Just let me tell everybody where we’re going,” Lucy says as she makes her way upstairs.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A few hours later, just as the sky turned orange and yellow from the sun going down, Lucy and Clyde arrive at the cemetery. Lucy lead Clyde to the specific rendezvous point where Haiku said she and SIlas would be awaiting them. Once they got there, Haiku and silas stood in between a mini tombstone with the words “R.I.P Tweety II” carved into it. Silas was also holding a small box that contained the dead animal.  
“Hi guys,” Lucy greeted.  
“Hello Lucy,” Haiku greeted, “Hello Clyde. I didn’t think you’d come.”  
“Nice to see you again Haiku,” Clyde greeted. He looked at Silas.  
“Oh. Clyde, this is our other friend Silas. Silas, this is Clyde,” Haiku introduced.  
“Nice to meet you,” Clyde says.  
“Likewise,” Silas replied.  
Silas puts the box that contains the dead bird on the ground and grabs a shovel.  
“Who wants to help me dig the grave?” Silas asks.  
“I will,” Lucy grabs a second shovel and helps Silas dig the grave for the bird.  
While Silas and Lucy dig, Haiku and Clyde decide to talk.  
“Lucy has been very scarce around us ever since Rocky left,” Haiku explains, “She’s missed my poetry readings, our seances, hanging out. To be honest, we kinda miss hanging out with her.”  
“Yes I know,” Clyde replies, “Her siblings suggested I talk to her and bond with her. After that, she’s been making excellent progress.”  
Haiku briefly glances at Lucy and Silas digging. Then she looks at Clyde again, “I just wanted to say thank you for helping her open up. It’s nice to see her digging a grave again.”  
“You’re welcome,” Clyde responds.  
Silas grabs the box that the bird’s dead body is in and gently places it in the hole. Then Lucy helps him cover the box with dirt until the box is completely buried.  
“Mind if I say a few words?” Lucy wonders as she and Silas get up from burying the bird.  
“By all means,” Silas replied, “By the way, the bird is my neighbor’s and his name is Tweety II.”  
Everybody stepped away from the headstone and bowed their heads while listening to Lucy’s eulogy.  
“Dearly beloved,” Lucy began, “We are gathered here today to mourn the death of Tweety II, a pet beloved by Silas’ neighbor. Fly high to heaven young one.”  
Everyone briefly looked up at the night sky and caught a glimpse of the sun sinking lower and lower behind the mountains in the distance.  
“Can I add something else please?” Lucy requests.  
Silas and Haiku give her the green light by silently nodding.  
Lucy then stepped forward and turned her back towards her friends. She looked up at the golden sky, cupped her hands together, and brought them close to her chest.  
“God, if you’re listening, I humbly ask a favor of you,” Lucy whispers, “Please watch over Grandma Spokes. Give her a wonderful afterlife full of peace and harmony, much like how I assume she had here on Earth. Also, watch over the members of the Spokes family who are still living. Remind them that even the living are important in your eyes.”  
As they listened to Lucy’s speech asking God to watch Grandma Spokes, Clyde, Haiku, and Silas all grinned at the sweet moment.


	6. Lucy Comforts Rocky

When Lucy came home from the cemetery, it was 6:45 pm, so she had technically missed dinner. However, anticipating that she would be late, her parents had saved her a plate of roast beef and gravy. Lynn Sr. gave her permission to eat in her room, which is what she did.  
While she was eating in the peace and quiet of her room, Lucy thought about the funeral she and her friends had just a few hours prior. Specifically, she thought about the speech she gave asking God to watch over Grandma Spokes. She meant every word of it and as she replayed the speech in her head, she felt a warmth in her chest.  
After she finished eating her dinner and took her plate into the kitchen, Lucy went back in her room and changed into her pajamas to make herself comfortable.  
As par for the course, Lucy’s cell phone rings at 8:30 pm. When she sees it’s Rocky, she’s glad to be able to talk to him.  
“Hello,” Lucy greets.  
“Hi,” Rocky answers.  
Lucy immediately notices that Rocky’s demeanor is significantly different. Unlike the previous days he’s called her, where he was much more cheerful, this time there was a hint of sadness in his voice. Something must have happened.  
“You Ok, dear?” Lucy says softly.  
“(Sigh). My grandma died today Lucy. She’s gone,” Rocky sighs in a forlorn tone.  
When she heard Rocky tell her that his grandmother had passed, she froze. Even though she did not know exactly when or how Grandma Spokes died, her speech that she gave earlier at another creature’s funeral suddenly had much more weight to it. It was almost as if her speech foreshadowed her passing, even if it happened before the funeral she just came from.  
Of course, hearing the pain in Rocky’s voice hit her close to home and made her heart sink a little bit. She knew that she had to be there for her love.  
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Lucy whispers sympathetically, “Maybe you should talk about it.”  
Rocky pauses for a brief moment before speaking again, “Talk about it?” He wonders.  
“I don’t know if I’d want to talk about it,” Rocky confesses.  
Lucy silently pondered Rocky’s refusal to talk about what affect his grandmother’s death had on him. Even though the circumstances were vastly different, she reminisced about how isolated and distant she was when Rocky left. Her family was worried about her beyond belief and they knew that keeping her emotions bottled up was unhealthy.  
Then Clyde came to her mind. His advice that he learned from Dr. Lopez helped her a lot in her time of loneliness and need. Rocky’s situation was much more complex and he definitely needed someone to talk to in order to help his grieving process. Of course, what better person for Rocky to open his heart to than his girlfriend?  
“Rocky, my love?” Lucy finally spoke.  
“Yes?” Rocky replies.  
“I know that you are feeling a lot of pain right now and it might be hitting you very hard,” Lucy says, “But I’ve learned that bottling up your emotions is actually not a good thing. Even if you’re feeling incredibly sad, it’s better to talk about you feelings with someone you trust.”  
“You can trust me Rocky,” Lucy continues, “I’m here for you and I’m more than willing to listen to whatever you have to say. And don’t feel that you have to rush either. Take all the time you need to express your feelings. I’m all ears. Talk to me, darling.”  
Rocky was very touched by his girlfriend’s willingness to listen to him, “Are you sure?” He wonders.  
“Yes dear, talk to me,” Lucy reassures him.  
Rocky goes on to explain what happened in the events leading up to his grandma’s death.  
“It all started around 4:00 pm,” Rocky explains, “We arrived at the hospital and asked the doctor how she was doing. He told us that her blood pressure was dropping rapidly and that she only had a few heartbeats left before...you know.”  
“Oh my,” Was all Lucy could say.  
“We all visited her individually, starting with my aunt, uncle, and cousins,” Rocky continues, “For the most part, we just told her that we love her and we’ll miss her. You know, all that jazz.”  
“Did you see her?” Lucy asks.  
“Yes I did. I asked to see her last,” Rocky says, “When I went in her hospital room to see her...she didn’t look so good. She was so small and frail. Her eyes were only half open and her heart rate monitor was beeping incredibly slowly. I whispered ‘Grandma? Grandma, it’s me Rocky.’”  
As she pictured her beloved trying to get his frail grandmother’s attention, Lucy’s heart sank even further.  
“Go on,” She says.  
“She opened her eyes a little bit and looked up at me,” Rocky explains, “I remembered to keep quiet so as not to disturb her. I just told her that I loved her and I’m gonna miss her. She grabbed my hand and held it. My gosh was her hand cold. Even though she obviously wasn’t loud, she spoke to me. She said, ‘You take care of yourself and your brother Rusty. Goodbye dearie’. Then...it happened. Her grasp completely loosened and...she flatlined. That was it. She’s gone.  
As much as it slightly pains her to ask this, especially since there was still sadness in Rocky’s voice as he talked, Lucy was genuinely curious.  
“Did you cry?” Lucy asks in understanding.  
There is a pause on Rocky’s end. After a few seconds, he finally responds.  
“No I didn’t,” Rocky confessed, “I mean, I wanted to, especially since I was essentially the last person she saw. But I couldn’t exactly bring myself to. I think it’s because I was told that I had to be strong during Grandma’s last moments.”  
One of Lucy’s personal pet peeves is when adults tell each other and their kids to “be strong” during funerals and other unfortunate events. There’s no harm in crying, and it’s certainly not a crime to do so.  
“Ah, being strong is baloney,” Lucy comments.  
Rocky was rather surprised at Lucy’s reaction, especially since he’s never heard her say the word “baloney” before.  
“Huh?” Was all Rocky could say.  
“Let me tell you a story about when my own grandmother died,” Lucy says in a comforting tone.  
Rocky raised an eyebrow, “Great Grandma Harriet?”  
“Oh no, not her. My other grandma. My mom’s mom,” Lucy clarifies.  
“Oh,” Rocky says.  
“Anyway, she died when Lisa was about 2,” Lucy explains, “Unlike your situation, her death was actually unexpected. She died in her sleep and Pop-Pop found her. It took quite a toll on all of us. Some of us, namely the twins and kind of Lincoln, were confused about whether or not they should cry. My parents and Pop-Pop said that if we really feel like crying, then we should.”  
“Because my older sisters knew her the longest, they cried the most. Lincoln and the twins only cried a little and Lisa didn’t cry at all, on account of not knowing her that well. Even I shed a few tears. So there’s no shame in crying Rocky,” Lucy concluded her story.  
While he was listening to his girlfriend’s experience and remembered his loved one dying right in front of his eyes, Rocky’s lips started quivering slightly and his eyes started watering.  
“Lucy...may I...cry?” Rocky whimpers.  
Lucy gives a small understanding smile, “Of course my love. I’m here for you,” She says.  
Then it happened: Rocky cried. Not excessive amounts, but very soft sobs and sniffles that Lucy takes notice of. As she listens to her boyfriend’s cries, she wishes more than anything that she could be there with him to hug and kiss him to let him know that she cares. She instead does the next best thing, gently patting the back of her phone to simulate patting Rocky’s back.  
“It’s alright Rocky,” Lucy gently comforts him, “Let it all out.”  
After a few more minutes of crying, Rocky finally stops.  
“Do you feel better?” Lucy asks gently.  
“Yes I do. You’re right, I did need to cry. Thanks for the advice honey,” Rocky sniffled.  
“You’re welcome. I’m always here for you,” Lucy reassures him.  
“(Sniff) I...I should go. It...it’s getting late,” Rocky whispers.  
“Ok then. Goodnight, my dear,” Lucy bids goodnight.  
After they hang up, Lucy puts her phone on her nightstand. She then grabs the framed picture of her and Rocky from their first dance. She hugs it close to her heart for a good 10 seconds. Then she kisses Rocky’s photo on the lips and puts it back on her nightstand. Lucy eventually falls asleep, keeping Rocky in her mind as she drifts off to Dreamland.


	7. Shopping for Rocky (Part 1)

The following Thursday afternoon, the doorbell rings and Lincoln goes to answer it. It turns out to be Clyde, which isn’t the least bit surprising at this point.  
“Hey Clyde, what’s up?” Lincoln greeted.  
“Earlier today, Lucy asked me to come over so she can show me a new poem she wrote,” Clyde replies.  
“That’s great,” Lincoln says, “You think she’ll let me listen too? She always shows me her poems.”  
“I don’t see why not,” Clyde comments as the two of them head upstairs to Lucy’s room.  
Since the door is closed, Lincoln lightly knocks on the door. A small “come in” can be heard on the other side, which gave the boys the greenlight that they can go inside.  
After the door lightly creaks open, they smile and greet the young goth, “Hi Lucy,” Lincoln says.  
“Hi Lincoln. Hey Clyde,” Lucy answers while holding a piece of paper.  
“So Clyde tells me you have a new poem. May I listen too?” Lincoln pleads.  
“Of course brother. I’ll always let you listen to my poems,” Lucy allows, “And I have a feeling that you’ll like this one.”  
The two boys stand in front of Lucy, who holds her poem up so that she could read it.  
“I call it ‘Here For You’. Ahem…  
My darling, I can see you’re feeling blue  
This feeling of loneliness, that’s not the real you  
However, I know this is a time  
Where shedding tears is not a crime  
So cry my darling, let your emotions out  
Let me hear your sobs, let your tears wash about  
Don’t be sad dear, because no matter what  
If you ever feel lonely, and stuck in a rut  
I’ll always be here, to be your guiding light  
As long as I’m here, your heart shall shine bright  
I care about you, more than you’ll ever know  
You’re my dear, my darling, my beau  
Don’t forget love, if you feel your world crashing down  
Think of me, and you’ll smile instead of frown  
I adore you, this is definitely true  
Heed my advice, it’s sure to work for you.”  
The boys were touched by Lucy’s sweet and sentimental poem, especially Lincoln who was so used to hearing dark and morbid poems from his little sister.  
“Thanks for showing me Lucy. I really liked it,” Clyde compliments.  
“Thank you,” Lucy says while bowing her head.  
“Lucy...that was amazing,” Lincoln gasps in astonishment, “Where’d you get the inspiration for that?”  
“Glad you asked,” Lucy says, “I got the inspiration when I talked to Rocky last night.”  
She pauses for a brief moment as she places her poem on her bed.  
“His grandmother passed away yesterday. And when he called me last night, he talked about her last moments. Then he cried in front of me. So my poem is saying that anytime he needs a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be there,” Lucy thoroughly explained.  
“Wow, you’re so sweet,” Lincoln compliments, “So I take it you’re feeling better.”  
“Oh I am. I really have Clyde to thank. Without him, I would have just moped around all day,” Lucy says.  
She turns to Clyde, “Thank you so much.”  
Lucy was in such a good mood that she decided that saying thank you to Clyde wasn’t enough to truly show her gratitude, so she did something rather unexpected: Lucy hugged Clyde.  
While the young goth had her arms around Clyde, both he and Lincoln were pretty dumbfounded. Lucy must be really grateful for Clyde helping her out if she’s going so far as to hug him. After a few seconds of just standing there in bemusement, Clyde decided to return the hug and wrapped his arms around Lucy.  
When Lucy finally released herself from Clyde, she looks at the two of them with a smile, “That reminds me, I have a great idea,” She says.  
“What is it?” Lincoln wonders.  
“When I talked to Rocky last night, I also got the idea to get him a welcome home gift,” Lucy explains.  
“Ooh, that’s nice,” Clyde compliments, “What did you have in mind?”  
“You’ll see. Just come with me to the mall,” Lucy says.  
“Can I go too?” Lincoln asks.  
“Sure you can,” Lucy approves.  
Lucy grabs her phone, which is resting on the bed, “Before we go, I need to text Rocky something real fast.”  
She proceeds to do so, which takes about 15 seconds. She concludes her message by whispering “xoxo”. Then she puts her phone on her bed.  
“Ok let’s go.”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When the trio of kids arrive at the mall, Lucy quietly leads her brother and his friend to a very special store which is located towards the back of the first floor of the mall.  
This particular store was what the Louds describe as the “Catholic store”. There are many religious memorabilia in this store, such as statues of religious figures, cards that contain pictures of religious figures and prayers, rosaries, and an item that Lucy was looking for.  
“Why are we going in here?” Lincoln wonders. Not that he has a problem with it, he’s just curious.  
Lucy faces the two boys, “Remember when I said Rocky told me his grandma died? Well after hearing that, I got the idea to give him a scapular,” She explains. (A/N: A scapular is an object that is worn around the neck. It contains two pieces of cloth attached to both sides of a string. The pieces of cloth usually contains pictures of religious figures like saints.)  
The boys nod in understanding as they follow Lucy inside. The store was incredibly quiet except for the sounds of church music playing over the loudspeakers inside the store; even then, the music was played at a volume that wasn’t too loud.  
Lucy approached the counter and faced a female employee who wore a sky blue rosary around her neck.  
“Excuse me, where do you keep your scapulars?” Lucy asks politely.  
The female employee smiles and points towards the back of the store, “They are over there, young lady.”  
“Thank you,” Lucy says as she goes to find a scapular.  
While she’s gone, the employee turns towards Lincoln and Clyde, “Anything you boys need?” She asks.  
“Oh no, ma’am. We’re good,” Clyde answers in a polite tone.  
Lucy finally comes back with a green and white scapular.  
She places it on the counter so that the employee can ring it up for her.  
“Is that all for you today?” The employee asks.  
“Yes ma’am. This is all I needed,” Lucy replies.  
“Alright, that’ll be $2.75.”  
Lucy reaches into her pocket and pulls out two dollar bills and three quarters, exactly $2.75. After the employee receives the money, she grabs a paper bag and puts the scapular inside.  
“Thank you for shopping with us and may the Lord bless and keep you,” The employee says as she hands Lucy the paper bag with the scapular in it.  
“Thank you,” Lucy thanks as she walks out of the store. Lincoln and Clyde silently wave at the store clerk as they follow Lucy out of the store.


	8. Shopping for Rocky (Part 2)

After they exit the store, Lucy briefly takes the scapular out of the paper bag and shows it to Lincoln and Clyde.  
“Nice,” Clyde comments, “And it’s green too. Is it to match Rocky?”  
Lucy glances at it, “I didn’t even think of that until you said it,” She puts it back in the bag.  
“There’s actually one last stop I need to go to,” Lucy says.  
“Alright then. Lead the way,” Lincoln insisted.  
The next store Lucy needed to go to was on the second floor, so she lead Lincoln and Clyde to a nearby escalator and climbed on. They walk across the second floor until they reach a jewelry store.  
Lincoln’s eyes slightly widen as he follows his sister and his best friend into the fancy jewelry store; their shoes squeaking on the clean marble floor.  
Lucy approached two salespeople that were standing behind the display case. They were a man and a woman who both had fair skin and dark brown hair, which indicated that they were siblings; and possibly twins.  
“Excuse me?” Lucy acknowledged.  
The two salespeople looked at her, “Yes, can we help you?” The man asked.  
“Do you sell men’s lockets here?” Lucy wonders.  
The saleswoman smiled at Lucy, “Absolutely. Follow me,” She instructed as she lead Lucy to a different part of the store.  
It takes Lucy a good few minutes to find exactly what she was looking for. She wanted to find something beautiful, but not too pricey considering how ritzy this place is.  
“Gasp, this is perfect!” Lucy whispers in astonishment.  
“Did you find what you were looking for?” The saleswoman wonders.  
“Yes, I’ll take this one please,” Lucy points to the display case where the locket she wants is sitting.  
“Wonderful,” The saleswoman unlocks the display case and carefully removes the locket.  
The locket has a round silver pendant with a silver chain attached to the pendant.  
“Is this for a special someone?” The saleswoman asks while winking at Lucy.  
“Yes it is,” Lucy sighs while placing a hand on her heart.  
The saleswoman and Lucy walk back to where the salesman, Lincoln, and Clyde were. The saleswoman hands the locket to the salesman so that he can ring it up for Lucy.  
“Would you like this in a jewelry box?” The salesman asks.  
“Yes please,” Lucy says.  
The salesman gingerly places the locket inside a small black jewelry box.  
“Alright, that’ll be $7.95,” The salesman said as he opens the cash register.  
Lucy hands him a 5 dollar bill and 3 one dollar bills, a total of $8. “Keep the change,” Lucy says.  
After the money is placed in the cash register, the salesman places the jewelry box into a small plastic bag. He hands the bag to Lucy.  
“Thank you for shopping with us,” Both salespeople say in unison.  
“Thank you,” Lucy bids farewell as she, Lincoln, and Clyde leave the store.  
“What’s the locket for?” Clyde wonders.  
“You know how you told me about looking at pictures of loved ones in times of loneliness? Well the locket is for Rocky to put a picture of his grandmother in. That’s what I texted him earlier; asking if he has a picture of his grandma,” Lucy explains.  
Both Lincoln and Clyde are incredibly touched by Lucy’s reasoning behind her gift; with Lincoln trying to stop himself from getting teary-eyed.  
As the three of them exit the mall, Lincoln turns to Clyde, “I seriously can’t thank you enough for helping Lucy get through this time. If it weren’t for you, she would literally shut herself off from the world.”  
Clyde looks at Lucy, who’s walking ahead. As he watched the bags that contain Lucy’s gifts sway from side to side as she walked, he started getting a touch misty-eyed.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Many hours later, at 8:20 pm, Lucy is hiding the scapular and the jewelry box containing the locket in the drawer of her nightstand underneath a bunch of clothes so no one can see them if they open the drawer.  
After doing so, she puts on her pajamas and gets ready for bed. Once again, she gets a call from Rocky. As she answers it, she tries to cover up her excitement from today.  
“Hello Rocky,” Lincoln greets as she answers her phone.  
“Hi,” Rocky greeted back, “Hey listen, I got your text earlier. Why did you want to know if I have any pictures of my grandma?”  
“Oh, no reason. I was just curious,” Lucy answers.  
“Well to answer your question, I have several pictures of her saved,” Rocky explains, “My family wanted to gather a bunch of them and put them around her casket during the wake. I humbly asked not to.”  
Hearing him talk about the wake, Lucy immediately changes her tone and gets more serious.  
“So...how have you been?” Lucy whispers softly.  
“(Sigh) Well, the funeral is tomorrow,” Rocky sighs, “We have to get up really early and go to church where we will say our final prayers to her. Then we go to the cemetery where we...bury her. My uncle, my dad, my aunt, and my oldest cousin are going to say a few words. Then comes the reception where we’ll eat and talk.”  
“After all that’s done, we’re going to start packing. We’re hoping to land in Michigan by Saturday afternoon,” Rocky concluded.  
Lucy is feeling overjoyed that she’ll only have one day left before Rocky returns. “Oh I’m so glad that the two weeks are finally over and I’ll get to see you again,” Rocky sighs.  
“Same here. I’ve missed you so much and I can’t wait to hug and kiss you again,” Rocky sighs.  
Lucy, incredibly touched by her boyfriend’s words, placed a hand on her heart, “Oh Rocky that’s so sweet,” She sighs.  
After realizing that Rocky will be attending his grandmother’s funeral, her tone changes again to be more serious, “You know, since the funeral is tomorrow, I promise not to bother you. And if you don’t feel up to it, you don’t have to call me either.”  
There is a pause for like half a second before Rocky speaks, “Thank you for understanding. I feel like it would be best if I don’t talk to you tomorrow; out of respect. Not Saturday either, since I’ll need an extra day to recoup,” Rocky confesses solemnly.  
“Of course. Grieving takes time and you need to be with your family now,” Lucy whispers.  
“Well I should head to bed. I’ve got a big day tomorrow,” Rocky says.  
“Don’t forget, it’s Ok to cry at the funeral,” Lucy reminds him, “Don’t hold anything back.”  
“Lucy…” Rocky begins.  
“Yes?” Lucy answers.  
“Can I have a kiss?” Rocky begs.  
“Yes you may,” Lucy releases the phone from her ear and holds it in her hand. She then brings the phone close to her lips and loudly says “Mwah” to indicate that she gave the phone a kiss. The screen felt warm against her lips.  
After she does that, she puts the phone next to her ear. She can hear Rocky’s voice.  
“Thanks,” Rocky says, “Well goodnight Honey Bat.”  
“Goodnight, my love,” Lucy bids goodnight.  
After Lucy ends the conversation and places her phone on the nightstand, she blows a kiss at the drawer her presents are hiding in and drifts off to sleep.


	9. Mending a Broken Heart

Ah, Saturday. The big day that Lucy had been waiting two gruelling weeks for had finally arrived: Rocky would be coming home today. All throughout the morning she has been waiting patiently for any indication that her beloved had returned. A phone call? A text message? Perhaps a visit?  
Then she remembered that he said he and his family should be returning to Royal Woods in the afternoon. So at 2:55 pm, Lucy was sitting on her bed patiently waiting for Rocky.  
She sees her bedroom door slightly creak open and her eyes light up underneath her bangs. Unfortunately, it was not Rocky; it was Clyde. Lucy tried to hide her disappointment and greeted him.  
“Hello Clyde,” Lucy greets.  
“Hey Lucy, how you doing today?” Clyde wonders.  
“Rocky’s coming home today,” Lucy replies.  
Clyde’s eyes widen in surprise and he beams, “Wow, is he really?”  
Lucy goes to her nightstand and retrieves her gifts from the drawer. She sets them on her nightstand.  
“I’m glad that both Rusty and Rocky are coming home today. It’ll be nice to see them again after these two weeks,” Clyde comments.  
While that was going on, Lincoln was grabbing a snack from the kitchen when he hears the doorbell ring. He steps out of the kitchen and goes to answer it. Much to his happiness, it was Rocky; who was holding two red roses in his right hand.  
“Hey, welcome back,” Lincoln greeted with a smile.  
“Hi Lincoln,” Rocky replies.  
“Where’s Rusty?” Lincoln wonders.  
“He’s at home unpacking,” Rocky explained, “I asked my dad to drop me off because I just had to see Lucy right away.”  
Rocky showed Lincoln the two roses in his hand, “I even stopped to get these for her on our way home from the airport. She technically prefers dead roses but I had to improvise.”  
Lincoln gives a small smirk, “She’d love those. She’s upstairs if you wanna see her.”  
Rocky smiles and his eyelids droop as he makes his way upstairs to see his beloved vampire. Lincoln realizes he failed to let him know that Clyde was also in there with her. But he figured that detail wasn’t entirely important, so he just shrugged it off.  
As Rocky stood in front of Lucy’s bedroom door and was about to knock on it, he was able to hear voices coming from inside the room. He pressed his ear against it and listened intently to what the voices were saying.  
Rocky immediately recognizes Lucy’s voice, “Oh Clyde, I can’t possibly thank you enough for being here for me during these two weeks,” Lucy sighs.  
Clyde?  
Rocky was confused about what Clyde was doing there. More importantly, what exactly did Lucy mean when she said he was “there for her”? He continued to listen.  
“Of course Lucy. It was my pleasure spending time with you. After all, you needed me,” Clyde replied.  
She “needed” you?!  
Now Rocky went from confused to suspicious in a manner of seconds. He grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open.  
What Rocky saw and what happened next as a result of what he saw was enough to bring reality to a screeching halt. Lucy and Clyde were hugging each other, and unlike last time, Clyde also held Lucy in his arms just as she was holding him. While that was happening, Rocky stood in the doorway and lightly gasped at what he sees.  
Although Rocky’s gasp wasn’t extremely loud, it was still enough to catch the attention of both Lucy and Clyde. They pulled away from each other and looked at Rocky.  
“Oh Rocky,” Lucy says.  
There’s dead silence in the room since Rocky was completely frozen in shock, with his eyes and mouth wide open. The sight of his favorite girl embracing someone other than himself was tearing him up inside. So much so that instead of simply holding the roses in his hand, he starts to clutch them hard out of anger.  
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Rocky finally spoke. “How could you?!” He whispers in a very harsh tone.  
Rocky bolts out of the room and dashes down the stairs. The sounds of the front door swinging open and slamming shut was enough to make Lucy’s heart jolt.  
Shaken up by Rocky’s intense reaction, Lucy stepped away from Clyde and sat down on her bed. She pulled her knees tightly close to her chest and buried her face into her knees.  
Clyde looks down with a worried expression, “I...uh...I think that’s my cue to go.”  
Lucy does not look at him. Instead she uses her arm to point outside her bedroom door without saying a word, indicating that she definitely wants him to leave. Clyde understands completely and leaves. He closes the door behind him to give Lucy some peace.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
15 minutes after that ordeal, and after Lucy has had a chance to pull herself together, she decides to go find Rocky so that she can explain herself.  
After grabbing her poem, her scapular, and her jewelry box containing the locket and storing the items securely in her pockets, she left the house and pursued her journey to finding her beloved.  
As she reached the end of the sidewalk leading up to her house, she passed the garbage can and took a peek inside. When she saw the roses that Rocky had earlier, a small crack began to form on her heart. He must have really been torn up to do something like that.  
The journey towards the Spokes residence was over in a manner of minutes. Lucy slowly walked towards the front door and proceeded to knock very quietly. She only waited about 7 seconds before someone answered it. Much to her dismay, it was not Rocky, instead it was his brother Rusty.  
Rusty grinned at the sight of her, “Hey, long time no see,” He greeted.  
He wasn’t normally this nice to her, so Lucy figured it would be a good idea for her to be just a little courteous today, especially since he had just returned.  
“Hi, welcome home,” Lucy greeted back.  
Now that she said hi, she then jumped straight to the point, “Where’s Rocky?”  
“After he left your house, he came back and told us that he was going to the park (air quotes) to think, whatever that means,” Rusty shrugged.  
Oh no. “Ok thanks. I’ll, uh, I’ll go get him,” Lucy says as she leaves the Spokes house and heads to the park.  
Once she reaches the location of her love, she searches for him. She hears a sound in the distance, but it’s pretty muffled so she decides to follow the sound in order to see what it is.  
When Lucy discovers the source of the sound, what she hears and sees causes her heart, which previously had just a crack in it, to completely shatter. It was Rocky sitting on a bench...crying. He had his hands over his eyes as tears poured out of them. The sobs that echoed from him was deja vu for Lucy since she had previously heard his sobs while he was mourning the death of his grandmother. However, this time his crying was even worse for Lucy to see and hear since she was the cause of it. Needless to say, she never made anyone cry before. Especially not someone she deeply cares about.  
Gathering her courage, Lucy walks up to him, “Rocky?” She whispers.  
The crying boy looks up at Lucy. His eyebrows slightly scrunch in anger, “What do you want?!” He lashed out in a disheartened tone.  
“Can I sit down?” Lucy begs.  
Despite being mad at her, Rocky decides to scoot over, but just barely. Lucy takes her place next to Rocky.  
He looked over at Lucy, his eyes bloodshot and watery. “How could you do this to me?! And while I was visiting my dying grandmother for God’s sake!” Rocky snapped at her.  
Lucy’s shattered heart sank a little bit. “Look, about what happened back there, I can explain everything but I really need you to listen to me,” Lucy began.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Rocky decided that once Lucy explained herself, he could find it in his heart to forgive her. So he nodded, giving indication that she now has his undivided attention.  
“You have no idea how sad and lonely I was when you left me,” Lucy explained, “From Sunday to Wednesday of the first week you were gone, I was so sluggish that I literally didn’t want to do anything. I was like a creature of the undead.”  
“I was informed that my siblings were very worried about me. Lincoln came up with the idea to have Clyde spend time with me in order to get over my loneliness,” Lucy said.  
After what happened earlier, hearing Clyde’s name now had a negative effect on Rocky. He folded his arms and maintained a mad expression.  
“Please listen to me Rocky,” Lucy begs, “So that Thursday Clyde took me to the mall. I missed you so much that I actually went into the arcade and literally hugged the Space Blaster II machine. I’m not even kidding you.”  
Not quite knowing how to react to that, Rocky just gave her a blank stare.  
“We decided to get some fro-yo and talk for a while,” Lucy continued, “I talked to him about how much you mean to me. I explained our backstory, our first dance, our first kiss, and more importantly, how you make me feel.”  
“The trip to the mall with Clyde allowed me to really express my thoughts and feelings. And of course Clyde really listened to me. You see, even though my siblings were concerned about me, they basically just tried to cheer me up. But Clyde taught me that it was better to talk about your feelings instead of bottling them up. He was right because after talking about you, I didn’t miss you as much.”  
Lucy’s explanation surprisingly seemed reasonable, but Rocky was still at a loss for words, so he just tilted his head.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lucy continued her explanation, “It was so lonely without you that in the days leading up to the mall trip with Clyde, I did not socialize with Haiku and Silas…”  
“Really?!” Was all Rocky said the whole time they have been there.  
Lucy was thrilled to hear his voice again, but had to continue, “Yes really. Not only did I keep my distance during school, but I also missed their poetry readings, seances, and so forth.”  
Rocky placed an index finger on his chin as he contemplated the idea of Lucy isolating herself from her best friends just because he wasn’t around.  
“After that trip to the mall, I started hanging out with Clyde more and more. The Monday during the second week you were gone, I finally snapped back to my old ways and volunteered to help Haiku and Silas bury a dead bird. Of course Clyde tagged along,” Lucy said, “While I helped Silas dig a hole for the dead bird, I overheard Haiku thanking Clyde for helping me snap out of the depression I had while you were gone.”  
What Lucy wanted to talk about next warranted a moment of sentiment, so she moved closer to her love and wrapped her arm around him.  
“During the funeral for the dead bird, do you know what I did? I asked God to watch over your grandma. I asked Him to give her an afterlife full of peace and love,” Lucy sighed lovingly.  
After hearing the kind gesture that his girlfriend did, especially since she didn’t have to, Rocky gave a small smile.  
“Remember when we talked the night your grandmother passed?” Lucy says, “Well that gave me inspiration; not just for another poem, but also to buy you a couple of welcome home gifts.”  
The tears in Rocky’s eyes started anew, but they were out of happiness after hearing Lucy got him some gifts.  
Giving a warm smile, Lucy put her hand underneath Rocky’s chin, “Do you understand what the whole Clyde situation is about?” She whispers.  
Rocky sniffles and wipes his tears using his arm, “I guess so. But...all the times we were talking...why didn’t you just tell me you were seeing Clyde?”  
“Because I didn’t want you to worry about what I was doing,” Lucy explains, “You were in a vulnerable position and you needed to focus on being with your family.”  
Lucy moved her hand from underneath Rocky’s chin and tenderly placed it on his cheek, “I want you to know that during all those times we talked, when I comforted you, I really meant it. I would never see someone else behind your back; especially given your situation.”  
Rocky grabbed Lucy’s wrist and squeezed it. “Now I understand. But when I saw you and Clyde hugging each other, that broke my heart.”  
Lucy spotted a tear trickling down Rocky’s cheek and used her thumb to wipe it away. “Yes I can see that it broke your heart. Now I realize it was a mistake keeping Clyde from you,” She gently reassures him.  
Lucy pulled her hand away from Rocky’s face and opened her arms, “Can I have a hug?”  
After briefly looking at her, he smiles and hugs her.


	10. Ending

Once they make up and Rocky has had a chance to calm down, the two of them head back to the Spokes’ house.  
Currently, Lucy and Rocky are sitting on Rocky’s bed with a big box in between them. The box contains many family photos and Rocky is rummaging through the box trying to find a photo of his grandmother. After Lucy has shown him the locket she bought for him, he’s determined to find the perfect photo to put inside it.  
After a few seconds of rummaging through the box, Rocky finally pulls out a photo and holds it in the air.  
“This one!” He says triumphantly.  
“May I see?” Lucy begs.  
Rocky holds the photo on its right corner and Lucy holds it on its left corner. What they see is an old lady with curly white hair and sparkling green eyes. On her face were a pair of eyeglasses with thin gold frames. She was wearing a light pink sweater and a white pearl necklace. She was in a seated position; which was evidenced by the fact that she was only shown from the waist up and her arms were neatly folded across each other and placed on her lap. Her smile, although very small, displayed shiny teeth that were as white as the pearls around her neck. There was a plain blue background displayed behind her.  
“She’s beautiful,” Lucy sighs, “What’s her name?”  
“Judy Anne Spokes,” Rocky answers.  
Lucy recognizes the plain blue background as the same one used when she takes school pictures.  
“Was this professionally taken?” Lucy wonders.  
“Yes it was,” Rocky explained, “This was on her 80th birthday. It was always a tradition to have her picture taken by a professional photographer every decade.”  
“She let us keep her pictures from age 60 to age 80,” Rocky continues, “But all her pictures from age 10 to 50 belong to Grandpa. Both my dad and my uncle have multiple copies of these pictures.”  
“You’ve chosen the perfect picture to keep in your locket,” Lucy comments.  
“(Sigh) This one is my favorite,” Rocky whispers.  
“That’s even better,” Lucy says with a smile.  
“There might be a pair of scissors in the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Can you grab them for me?” Rocky asks Lucy.  
Since the nightstand is only a few inches from where she was sitting on his bed, Lucy merely scoots towards it. Just as she got closer, she notices that sitting on top of it was Rocky’s copy of the photo from their first dance. Her heart flutters upon seeing it, but she decides to keep focus on getting the scissors for her love. She opens the bottom drawer and spots the scissors right away.  
After retrieving the scissors and closing the drawer, Lucy hands them to Rocky.  
“Thanks babe,” Rocky grabs the scissors and gets ready to cut.  
Lucy grabs the locket and opens the pennant, “Remember, it’s gotta fit in there,” She reminds him.  
Rocky takes the scissors and cuts the picture as carefully as possible. As he tries to focus, he squints his eyes and sticks his tongue out a little. Once it’s small enough, he hands Lucy the picture so that she can place it in the locket.  
While that’s going on, Rocky gets off his bed and grabs the big box of family photos. He takes the box and puts it on the floor in the corner of his room. Then he goes back to his bed and sits next to Lucy.  
“Even though it’s entirely your decision, I recommend not wearing outside the house. Especially since it has your favorite picture inside,” Lucy warns him as she hands him the locket.  
Rocky holds the pennant in the palm of his hand and looks at the photo of his grandmother. He decides that this locket is much too valuable to wear outside the house.  
“I don’t trust myself to wear this outside because I’m afraid I’ll lose it. So I’ll only wear it inside the house,” Rocky closes the pennant, grabs the black jewelry box, and gently places the locket inside the jewelry box, “I’m not taking any chances.”  
Lucy smiles and puts her hand on his shoulder, “That’s my boy.”  
“Look what else I got you,” Lucy reaches into her other pocket and pulls out the green and white scapular she bought him.  
She holds one of the pieces of cloth on the tips of her fingers. It has a picture of the Virgin Mary on it, which Rocky is amazed by.  
“Ohh, my grandma loved the Virgin Mary!” Rocky gasps.  
Rocky looks at the second piece of cloth and notices that there are words on it. “Oh look at that, there’s a prayer.”  
Rocky reads the prayer, “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”  
“Wow, I didn’t even notice that,” Lucy comments.  
She holds onto the strings of the scapular and proceeds to place it around Rocky’s neck.  
“As long as you wear this around your neck, the Virgin Mary will watch over and protect you,” Lucy says softly.  
“Oh Lucy, this was so sweet of you to buy these things for me,” Rocky put his arm around Lucy.  
As he gently rubs her shoulder, he looks at her, “You know, I feel really bad for throwing away your roses earlier,” Rocky confesses guiltily.  
“To make up for it, here’s a better present for you; it’s something that I’ve been waiting 2 whole weeks to do.” With that said, Rocky wraps both his arms around her and pulls her in a tight hug, which she returns. She missed being held in the arms of her favorite boy.  
After they release each other from the hug, Rocky places his thumb and index finger underneath Lucy’s chin. That can only mean one thing. Rocky’s eyes start to close as he and Lucy inch closer together. The two of them kiss. Oh how they have missed each other’s lips.  
After they lock lips they gaze at each other, “Thank you Rocky,” Lucy says, “I think I should get home before it gets dark.”  
“Ok then. Bye Lucy,” Rocky bids her goodbye.  
Lucy gives him a quick peck on the cheek as she gets up from Rocky’s bed. Just before she leaves the room, she turns around and waves at him, prompting him to wave back.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
As Lucy exits Rocky’s bedroom and walks down the hall, she passes Rusty who’s just standing there. She doesn’t initially notice him at first, so he decides to make himself known.  
“Hey,” Rusty says.  
Lucy’s surprised at Rusty’s appearance, since she didn’t notice him, “Oh...hi.”  
“Hey listen, can I talk to you for a second?” Rusty requests.  
It was a little odd for Rusty to ask Lucy to talk. Not to say that they’ve never talked before, but it was usually just a few words or sentences instead of a full conversation.  
“Sure, what is it?” Lucy accepts.  
“I overheard you guys talking in there and I have to say that I am genuinely impressed at how much you care about my brother,” Rusty claimed, “Rocky was right about your heart.”  
“What do you mean?” Lucy questions, genuinely curious.  
“Well ever since you two started dating, he’s been talking about how sweet you are and that you have a big heart,” Rusty revealed, “I didn’t believe him at first because I didn’t know you that well and I just sort of assumed that you were cold.”  
“But after you went through all the trouble to get Rocky presents to help him grieve the loss of our grandma, I realized that I’ve misjudged you.”  
Then Rusty did something rather unexpected: He wrapped one of his arms around Lucy’s shoulder and used his other hand to shake her hand.  
Lucy stared at him with wide eyes that were unable to be seen. This was the most Rusty has ever touched her. However, she realized that since this was the case, he must really trust her now. She gives a small smile.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A few minutes later, Lucy has finally made it back to her own house. The sun was setting, so the sky was a beautiful gold and blue. It was almost as if the gates of Heaven were opening and showing the light.  
Before Lucy goes inside, there’s one more thing she has to do. She turns her back towards the house and looks up at the sky. Then she takes two fingers, kisses them, and points them towards the golden sky. It’s her final goodbye to the late Judy Anne Spokes.


End file.
